Custom USB gamepad

[Irrelevant213]

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this, sorry if it isn't.

 

The only experience I have with electronics is KS3 (11-14 years of age in UK school system) soldering very basic kits onto basic PCBs that we were given, but it has recently come to my attention that it might not be that difficult to make a custom USB gamepad, using a Teensy or Arduino which supports HID. I was wondering if it is worth completely giving up on the idea, or if it is actually possible. For an idea, I was thinking a 3d printed case, a d-pad, face buttons, shoulder buttons, and if possible analogue sticks.

 

Any advice would be welcome, be it a starting point or tempering my expectations.

 

One of my main reasons for doing this, is my personal favourite controller, comfort wise, is the gamecube controller. I have the mayflash adapter to use this on PC, but it doesn't have a left shoulder button, a select button, or analogue stick click-in functions, meaning many modern games are unplayable without my unwieldy xbox 360 controller. If it would be a better idea to modify this, that might be a better idea (I have 2 third party controllers I could test anything on first).

 

Thanks for reading, please ignore if it didn't make sense to you.

[Majestic]

Unwieldly xbox 360 controller? It's tiny AF...

 

And creating a custom shell for a controller is not easy. Not only to get the fit right, but also the material and rigidity. 

[KenjiUmino]

39 minutes ago, Majestic said:

And creating a custom shell for a controller is not easy. Not only to get the fit right, but also the material and rigidity. 

this. maybe it will get easier if you have access to a 3D printer

[Majestic]

1 hour ago, KenjiUmino said:

this. maybe it will get easier if you have access to a 3D printer

Yeah but gamepads are molded, if you're going to print something and hold it with your hands those tiny meshes will fill up with sweat and it will be nasty in no time.

[Irrelevant213]

Would modifying the case of an existing controller be more suitable? As an example, taking a third party gamecube controller, taking the electronics out, drilling an extra hole or two in the middle (the size of the start button), somehow getting an extra z button like shape on the left, and then getting new buttons where necessary? The plastic isn't as nice as official gamecube controllers, but it is a properly moulded case as far as I am aware.

 

I wouldn't be offended if at this point you informed me that this project isn't realistically going to happen.

[Guest]

On 2/20/2018 at 7:00 PM, Majestic said:

Yeah but gamepads are molded, if you're going to print something and hold it with your hands those tiny meshes will fill up with sweat and it will be nasty in no time.

He could file it down, and spray it with something. 

 

I think the electronics part is a more important question as he can always rip the guts from a broken controller and add extra buttons by drilling holes. 

[Majestic]

2 minutes ago, fpo said:

He could file it down, and spray it with something. 

 

I think the electronics part is a more important question as he can always rip the guts from a broken controller and add extra buttons by drilling holes. 

Its pretty hard to properly get all those meshes filled up with paint.

 

Yeah but his gripe is the shape. 

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Its pretty hard to properly get all those meshes filled up with paint.

 

Yeah but his gripe is the shape. 

Aside from the shape, can you give some insight to how one could make the electronics function properly? 

I myself am interested in custom gamepad layouts, and my brother is a mechanical engineer so he could assist in making a proper controller husk.